Old/New Testament
The Land Is Divided
45 “When the land is divided and each family receives its part, you must give a part to the Lord. This will be a holy piece of land, as long as 12,500 long steps and as wide as 5,000 long steps. This whole piece of land will be holy. 2 Of this, there will be a piece of land for the holy place, as long as 250 long steps and as wide as 250 long steps. It will have four sides of the same length. And there will be an open space around it as wide as fifty cubits. 3 In the holy piece of land, number a length of 12,500 long steps and a width of 5,000 long steps. And in it will be the most holy place. 4 It will be the holy part of the land. It will be for the religious leaders, those who do the work in the holy place, who come near to serve the Lord. It will also be a place for their houses, and a holy place for the Lord’s House. 5 Another piece of land as long as 12,500 long steps and as wide as 5,000 long steps will be for the Levites who serve in the house. It will be land to build their houses on. 6 Next to the holy piece of land, another piece as wide as 2,500 long steps and as long as 12,500 long steps will be set aside for a city belonging to all the people of Israel. 7 The ruler will have land on both sides of the holy piece of land and the place for the city. His land will be next to these two pieces of land, on the west side and on the east side. It will be as long as one of the shares of land, from the west side of the whole land to the east side. 8 This land in Israel will belong to him. So My rulers will no longer make it hard for My people. They will give the rest of the land to the people of Israel by their family groups.”
9 ‘The Lord God says, “Enough, you rulers of Israel! Stop ruling in bad ways with your power and do what is right and good. Stop driving My people off their land,” says the Lord God. 10 “Be honest in your weights. 11 One barrel of grain must be the same amount as one barrel of water. And one-tenth part of a barrel of grain must be the same amount as one-tenth part of a barrel of water. 12 The silver piece of money must be worth the same as twenty small silver pieces. And sixty silver pieces of money must be worth the same as the heavy silver weight.
13 “This is the gift that you must bring: One-sixtieth part of a barrel of wheat, one-sixtieth part of a barrel of barley, 14 and one-hundredth part of a barrel of oil. 15 Also bring one lamb from each flock of 200 sheep from the well-watered fields of Israel. Bring them for a grain gift, a burnt gift, and a peace gift, to pay for the people’s sins,” says the Lord God. 16 “All the people of the land must take these gifts to the ruler in Israel. 17 It will be the ruler’s duty to bring the burnt gifts, the grain gifts, and the drink gifts, to the special suppers on the new moons and on the Days of Rest, and to all the special suppers of the people of Israel. He must bring the sin gift, the grain gift, the burnt gift, and the peace gifts, to pay for the sins of the people of Israel.”
The Special Suppers
18 ‘The Lord God says, “On the first day of the first month, you must take a young bull that is perfect and make the holy place clean. 19 The religious leader will take some of the blood from the sin gift and put it on the door pillars of the house, on the four corners of the altar, and on the pillars of the gate of the inner open space. 20 You must do the same on the seventh day of the month for every one who sins by mistake or because he does not know any better. In this way you will keep the Lord’s house holy.
21 “On the fourteenth day of the first month, you will have the Passover, a special supper that lasts for seven days. Every one will eat bread made without yeast. 22 On that day the ruler is to bring a bull as a sin gift for himself and all the people of the land. 23 During the seven days of the special supper he will bring as a burnt gift to the Lord seven bulls and seven rams that are perfect, on each of the seven days. And he will bring a male goat each day for a sin gift. 24 For a grain gift he will bring a tenth part of a barrel of grain for each bull, a tenth part of a barrel for each ram. And he will bring a large jar of oil for each tenth part of a barrel of grain. 25 On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, and for the seven days of the special supper, he is to bring the same amount for the sin gift, the burnt gift, the grain gift, and the oil.”
The Way of Worship
46 ‘The Lord God says, “The east gate of the inner open space must stay shut during the six working days. But it may be opened on the Day of Rest and on the day of the new moon. 2 The ruler will come in through the porch of the gate from outside and stand by the pillar of the gate. The religious leaders will make ready his burnt gift and his peace gifts, and he will worship at the gate and then go out. But the gate will not be shut until evening. 3 The people of the land will also worship at the gate before the Lord on the Days of Rest and on the new moons. 4 The burnt gift the ruler gives to the Lord on the Day of Rest will be six lambs that are perfect and a ram that is perfect. 5 The grain gift will be one-tenth part of a barrel of grain with the ram, and as much grain as he is able to give with the lambs. And he will give a large jar of oil with each tenth part of a barrel of grain. 6 On the day of the new moon he will give a young bull that is perfect, and six lambs and a ram that are perfect. 7 He will give a grain gift, one-tenth part of a barrel of grain with the bull, one-tenth part of a barrel of grain with the ram, and as much grain as he is able to give with the lambs. And he will give a large jar of oil with each tenth part of a barrel of grain. 8 When the ruler comes in, he must come in through this gateway, and go out the same way. 9 But when the people of the land come before the Lord at the special suppers, he who comes in through the north gate to worship must go out through the south gate. And he who comes in through the south gate must go out through the north gate. No one should leave through the same gate that he came in. Each person must go out the gate on the other side from where he came in. 10 The ruler should come in when the people come in, and leave when they leave. 11 At the special times and special suppers, the grain gift will be one-tenth part of a barrel of grain with a bull, and one-tenth part of a barrel with a ram. A person should give as much grain as he is able to give with the lambs. And he will give a large jar of oil with each tenth part of a barrel of grain. 12 When the ruler brings a free-will gift to the Lord, a burnt gift or a peace gift, the east gate must be opened for him. He will bring his burnt gift and his peace gifts as he does on the Day of Rest. Then he will leave, and the gate will be shut after he goes out.
13 “You must bring a one-year-old lamb that is perfect for a burnt gift to the Lord each day. Morning by morning you must bring it. 14 And you must bring a grain gift with it each morning. Bring one-sixtieth part of a barrel of grain, and one-third part of a large jar of oil to mix with the flour. This is the law for the grain gift to the Lord forever. 15 In this way the lamb, the grain gift and the oil will be brought each morning for a burnt gift forever.”
16 ‘The Lord God says, “If the ruler gives some of his land to any of his sons, it will belong to his sons. They will own the land for their families. 17 But if he gives some of his land to one of his servants, it will be his until the year he is set free. Then it will be returned to the ruler. His land may be kept only by his sons. It will belong to them. 18 The ruler must not take any land from the people, driving them away from what belongs to them. He must give only his own land to his sons, so that My people will not be divided from what belongs to them.”’”
19 Then he brought me through the door beside the gate into the holy rooms for the religious leaders, toward the north. And I saw a place at the far west end. 20 He said to me, “This is the place where the religious leaders will boil the guilt gift and the sin gift, and make the grain gift ready. This is so they will not bring them into the outer open space and make the people holy.” 21 Then he brought me into the outer open space and led me to its four corners. And in every corner I saw a small open space. 22 In the four corners there were open spaces with walls around them, as long as twenty long steps and as wide as fifteen long steps. All four spaces in the corners were the same in length and width. 23 There was a fireplace of stone all around in each of them. 24 Then he said to me, “These are the places where those who serve in the house will boil the gifts brought by the people.”
Christ Is Our Helper
2 My dear children, I am writing this to you so you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, there is One Who will go between him and the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the One Who is right with God. 2 He paid for our sins with His own blood. He did not pay for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world.
3 We can be sure that we know Him if we obey His teaching. 4 Anyone who says, “I know Him,” but does not obey His teaching is a liar. There is no truth in him. 5 But whoever obeys His Word has the love of God made perfect in him. This is the way to know if you belong to Christ. 6 The one who says he belongs to Christ should live the same kind of life Christ lived.
7 Dear friends, I am not writing a new Law for you to obey. It is an old Law you have had from the beginning. The old Law is the Word that you have heard. 8 And yet it is a new Law that I am writing to you. It is truth. It was seen in Christ and it is seen in you also. The darkness is passing away and the true Light shines instead. 9 Whoever says he is in the light but hates his brother is still in darkness. 10 But whoever loves his brother is in the light. And there will be no reason to sin because of him. 11 Whoever hates his brother is not in the light but lives in darkness. He does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
Do Not Love the World
12 I am writing to you, my children, for your sins have been forgiven because of Christ’s name. 13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him Who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have power over the devil. I have written to you, young boys and girls, because you have learned to know the Father. 14 I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him Who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong. You have kept God’s Word in your hearts. You have power over the devil.
15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the Father’s love is not in him. 16 For everything that is in the world does not come from the Father. The desires of our flesh and the things our eyes see and want and the pride of this life come from the world. 17 The world and all its desires will pass away. But the man who obeys God and does what He wants done will live forever.
18 My children, we are near the end of the world. You have heard that the false-christ is coming. Many false-christs have already come. This is how we know the end of the world is near. 19 These left us. But they never belonged to us. If they had been a part of us, they would have stayed with us. Because they left, it is known they did not belong to us. 20 The Holy Spirit has been given to you and you all know the truth. 21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth. I have written because you do know the truth and you know that no lie comes from the truth.
22 Who is a liar? He is a person who says that Jesus is not the Christ. The false-christ will have nothing to do with the Father and the Son and he will turn away from Them. 23 A person who will have nothing to do with the Son and turns against Him does not have the Father. The one who says he knows the Son has the Father also.
24 Keep in your heart what you have heard from the beginning. Then you will belong to the Son and to the Father if what you have heard from the beginning is in you. 25 And He has promised us life that lasts forever! 26 I have written to you about those who are trying to lead you in the wrong way. 27 Christ gave you the Holy Spirit and He lives in you. You do not need anyone to teach you. The Holy Spirit is able to teach you all things. What He teaches you is truth and not a lie. Live by the help of Christ as the Holy Spirit has taught you. 28 And now, my children, live by the help of Him. Then when He comes again, we will be glad to see Him and not be ashamed. 29 You know that Christ is right with God. Then you should know that everyone who is right with God is a child of His.
Copyright © 1969, 2003 by Barbour Publishing, Inc.